


On Cold Wings

by missnecessary



Category: Homestuck, MS Paint Adventures
Genre: Alpha Timeline, M/M, Post-Scratch
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-02-16
Updated: 2012-04-23
Packaged: 2017-10-31 07:22:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/341459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missnecessary/pseuds/missnecessary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dirk's crush comes to stay. Dave feels a sense of déjà vu. Jake is caught between the two brothers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so this is set in a slight AU, in which the game doesn't exist and Dirk's Bro is still alive. Most of the other stuff is still set pretty much as canon.  
> Rating will be going up ;D

Jake knocked on the door, feet shuffling nervously. He removed his hands from his pocket, to grip onto the handle of his battered green suitcase; then changed his mind, moving them back to the pockets of his khaki shorts. He had been very glad to find the climate of this area was not dissimilar to that of the island he knew as home, although here he found it to be of a lesser humidity and the use of air conditioning units was a far more common occurrence. But then again, he guessed that installing one into his home was an extravagance that had never even crossed his mind.

Wondering if anyone was actually coming to the door, he fiddled with his shirt collar. Would it be custom to knock again? Maybe no one was in. Maybe he had copied the address down wrong, or what the wrong building?

No, he was sure he had got all of the arrangements correct. And it seemed knocking again would be the best course of action.

Just as he reached forward, the door swung open. Standing in the doorway was a man, presumably in his thirties. He wore tracksuit bottoms, hung low on his hips; a stained wife-beater showed off clearly defined chest and arms. Oddly enough, he was wearing aviator shades, even though it was the early evening and he was indoors.

“Yes?” The man asked, face remaining impassive. Although Jake could have sworn he saw one eyebrow raise slightly. It was disconcerting. He felt completely under the man in front of him’s scrutiny and yet with him keeping his sunglasses on, he could not tell where he was looking; and Jake was finding it impossible to gauge what the man was thinking.

“D-Dirk?” Jake stuttered. This man was much . . . older than he had been expecting. Surely it couldn’t be the same fellow he had been chatting to online for years. If so, he had been getting a very wrong impression all along. 

The man paused a moment and then turned behind him, back into the flat.

“Dirk,” he shouted. “Friend of your’s.” And with that, he sauntered back into the apartment leaving Jake standing awkwardly at the door. He heard the sound of hurried footsteps which quickly decreased to a slower pace as the owner of said footsteps moved into sight, fixing the position of his pointed anime shades and making an attempt to keep his cool.

The boy in front of him was far more like what he had been expecting. He looked around Jake’s own age, except for being quite a bit taller. He had not quite filled his height out yet, giving him an almost gangly, boyish look. He was wearing a white polo shirt, with an orange baseball cap printed onto the front of it. Sandy blonde hair was perfectly sculpted and he had a light spattering of freckles visible under those pointy anime sunglasses and down his lean arms.

“Well, are you going to stand at my door like an idiot all day, or are you going to come in?” He was clearly not quite so trained as his brother in the art of not showing any emotion, and let a grin fall across his face. 

“Dirk!” Jake said happily, quickly grabbing his suitcase and pulling it through the door. “It’s brilliant to finally meet you, old chap!” He held out his hand in Dirk’s direction, as Dirk pulled the door shut behind him. Dirk ignored his proffered hand, pulling him into a quick hug.

“Likewise, bro,” he said, as he took Jake’s bag from his hand. “Hope you don’t mind sharing. Bro’s got his turntables and equipment up in the spare bedroom at the moment. Shouldn’t be for long though.”

“Oh no! It’ll be fun!” Jake said sincerely. “I don’t often get the chance for sleepovers.”

“Yeah, I’m not entirely sure your monsters make the best house guests,” Dirk said sarcastically. Jake could tell he still didn’t quite believe him about that. “Give me a moment and I’ll dump this for you. You can wait over there if you’d like.” He motioned towards the kitchen.

Jake walked over slowly, taking in his surroundings. He knew Dirk’s Bro did pretty well for himself, but still wasn’t expecting anything quite so . . . luxurious. He leant back against the spotless counter, and for what was probably the first time in his life, gave a thought to the cleanliness of his hands. When he was on his island, he guessed there were many things that ranked higher in importance than hygiene. And wandering through the overgrown forest, fending off monsters twice his size and wrestling robots were among those things.

He thought back to Brobot. Dirk hadn’t been kidding when he said he had modelled the robot on himself. Even the hair was a perfect match, and Jake would bet his Grandmother’s tea cosy, with the amount of hair product Dirk seemingly used, the real version’s would be just as hard as the metal replica. Jake chortled to himself. Thinking of the comparisons between the two, Jake suddenly felt awkward at the situations that had arisen while Brobot had been in his novice mode. After that, he was always sure to set him to intermediate, even if that did usually lead to a larger proportion of war-wounds. 

“You really do remind me of someone, you know.” The voice startled Jake. He looked up to see Dirk’s older brother leaning against the door frame.

“ . . . Really, Mr.Strider?” Jake asked, uncertain of what he was supposed to say in reply to that. It was moments like this that he really wished he had had more real-life interactions with other people whilst growing up.

“Mmm.” Jake had a feeling he had just been carrying on his thoughts out loud. It was almost as if his replying with something more eloquent would have just disrupted him anyway. “Can’t quite put my finger on it though.”

He walked over towards Jake, and much to the Jake’s surprise, he reached out and ran his hand through the boy’s dark brown hair.

“Uhh . . . Mr. Strider . . .” Jake looked up, trying to read his expression, but he just carried on, evidently making an attempt to flatten Jake’s omnipresent cowlick. 

“Maybe if this didn’t stick up so much . . .” Dirk’s Bro murmered. All of a sudden, he turned, swiftly opening the fridge and pulling out a beer.

“Call me Dave,” he said, as he walked back to the door, pulling the tab off the can as he went. Jake just stood there, wondering what in great tarnations had just happened.


	2. Chapter 2

TG: dirk  
TG: diiiiirk  
TG: diiiiiiiiiiiick  
TG: *dirk  
TG: why are yuo ignoring me  
TG: oh let me geuss, mr double-pistols-and-a-wonk has arrived  
TG: *wank  
TG: *wink  
TG: bet any of thise goes wiht you  
TG: ahahaaaaaa  
TG: you reealy are ignorinf me arnt ypu  
TG: fien then  
TG: *fine  
TG: if u dont wanna talk to me  
TT: Yes, Roxy?  
TG: i guess ill jst go  
TT: Roxy, what are you even going on about?  
TG: aaaaaahhh so distri has diceded to come crawling back  
TT: Sorry, the reason I have returned to what was, I’m sure, such a riveting conversation, is to inform you I have to take my leave now. Sorry for the swift exit, but I have company.  
TG: ahaa so I was write  
TG: *right  
TG: so finalky gonna take teh chace to make a move????  
TG: pull out the ol stroder charn  
TG: bet thats not all you wonna pul out  
TG: eyy dirk  
TG: wonkwonkwonk  
TT: I don’t have time for this right now. I’ve been gone long enough.  
TT: Look, just talk to AS in my absence, or something.  
TT: That /is/ what he’s there for.  
timaeusTestified [TT] has ceased pestering tipsyGnostalgic [TG]  
timaeusTestified [TT] began pestering tipsyGnostalgic [TG]  
TT: It seems someone was in rather a hurry to get out of here.

“Want anything to drink?" Dirk questioned, walking into the kitchen and pulling open the fridge. “There’s coke, sprite, fanta, beer – although Bro won’t let you touch that – apple juice, erm . . .”

“Just water will be fine thanks.”

Dirk raised an eyebrow at him. “If you’re just trying to be polite, don’t bother. You wanna stay here, you can have what you want, you know. It’s not like Bro can’t afford it . . .” he trailed off.

“Ok, a sprite then please.” Dirk chucked a can in Jake’s general direction and pulled a coke out for himself.

“Righty-oh then!” Jake said, his grin showing buck-teeth. “Shall be start getting some plans in place?”

“Sound like an idea,” Dirk replied, wandering into the sitting room, motioning to Jake to follow. Dirk placed his can down on the coffee table and slumped onto the sofa. He sat resting one ankle on his knee. Jake sat down in the seat next to him, although he sat a bit more on edge.

“So the plan is to stay here for, how long?” Dirk asked. He didn’t want to word the question so it sounded too eager, but also didn’t want to deter his best bro.

“Well, seeing as I technically don’t have anything specific to return home for, I can stay for as long as you’ll have me . . . of course I don’t want to abuse a fella’s hospitality . . . so erm . . . maybe a couple of weeks?” He said hopefully.

“Dude, Bro won’t care how long you stay for. To be brutally honest, I doubt he’ll even notice you’re here. He gets very,” he stopped to pick his words carefully. He wasn’t entirely sure ‘neglectful’ would go down well . . . “Absorbed when he’s working on a new movie.”

“So I guess we should take things as they come?”

“Sure thing, although bear in mind I’ve got a week left of school before I break up for the holidays. I tried to persuade Bro to write me off as sick for the week, but he wasn’t having any of it.”

“Oh no, old chap! I wouldn’t want you ruining your education just for me.”

Dirk chuckled. “It’s only a week dude. I doubt it would make too much difference to the grand scheme of things regarding my education.”

“Golly! I’ve an idea! What if I were able to come to school with you? I’ve always wondered what it’s like to go to a proper highschool.”

Dirk had forgotten that Jake would never have experienced any sort of school while on his island, but was still amused to see the genuine excitement on Jake’s face. He looked like an eager puppy, and his wide eyes framed by thick, black-rimmed glasses didn’t help.

“I’ll have to check with the powers-that-be, although I don’t see why they’d have a problem against it. Try not to get your hopes up, though. I can’t guarantee anything.” Dirk really could not resist that ridiculous buck-toothed grin. “I’m sure I’ll be able to get you in for a couple of days; it’s not like we do much for the last few days of term anyway.”

“Oh Dirk, that would be just swell,” Jake said, green eyes lighting up. “Don’t worry if it’s too much trouble though,” he fiddled with the tab of his now half empty can. “I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you. And I’m plenty used to providing my own entertainment.”

“Bro look, I’ve not dragged you all the way here from your cosy little island to not give you a proper taste of life in the city. And besides, it’s not like you find many monsters wandering the streets of Texas ready for strife.”

“Ha ha, I guess you’re right.” Getting used to the city would likely take Jake a little while. He was actually surprised at how tame all the flora and fauna here was, especially in comparison to the wilderness of his jungle home. 

“And when have I ever given you a reason to doubt the fact that I am _always_ right?”

Jake chuckled and stifled a yawn. Glancing over at the clock, he realised he hadn’t noticed quite how late it had gotten.

“Any chance we could head off to bed? Otherwise I know the jetlag is going to hit me bloody hard tomorrow.”

“Yeah, of course,” Dirk stood up and stretched out. He picked up their cans and walked through the kitchen, dropping them into the recycling bin. Jake followed him out and down the hallway to the bedroom right at the end.

The room was quite big, with a large double bed pushed up against one of the poster-covered walls. An extravagantly large wide-screen television was placed on the wall opposite and was flicking through a variety of movie posters, pictures of horses and . . . was that My Little Pony? Strewn across the floor was a weird array of robot parts, wires and curiously shaped plush dolls. There was a large collection of swords hung against the wall and leaning in various corners of the room.

“It’s not much . . .” Dirk said nervously. Clearly he felt worried about Jake judging him for his eccentric choice in décor. 

“Oh no, I think it’s wonderful,” Jake replied with a smile, making his way over to the bed where Dirk has previously placed his suitcase. He pulled out a pair of pyjamas and his toothbrush. “Any chance you could point me in the direction of the bathroom, my good sir?”

“Just down the hall, second on the left.” 

“Thanks,” Jake said, as he left the room. He walked down and pushed open the door. But much to his surprise, it was not the bathroom he had been expecting, but was what appeared to be Dirk’s Bro’s room. 

“Is there something you want?” Dave said, looking up slowly his laptop. The paleness of his shirtless chest was practically glowing in the light of his monitor. Jake’s gaze paused, fixed on the toned muscle, and he could tell Dave knew he was staring. 

“Oh, n-no,” Jake stuttered, going a little red. He gave a blustered apology including something about having got the wrong door all the while muttering “sir” far more often than was strictly necessary. He closed the door quickly, probably a little harder than was actually needed.

He heard a chuckle from Dirk’s room. “My bad, third door down.” And Jake hurriedly made his way to the correct room, although this time opening the door a little more tentatively.

He brushed his teeth and changed into his green flannel pyjamas, before heading back towards Dirk’s room.

“No one’s allowed in Bro’s room, by the way. Probably should have warned you that before.” Dirk informed Jake.

“Or maybe you should just give a fella the right instructions next time.” Jake stuck his tongue out at him.

Dirk gave Jake a slightly condescending look, noticing his choice in clothing. “You honestly going to be wearing those?” He motioned towards Jake’s pyjamas. “I can guarantee you, you’re going to be far too hot.” Jake looked over to see Dirk was just clad in orange boxers and t-shirt.

“I’m sure I’ll survive,” Jake replied. The lack of privacy thing was going to be something he would have to get used to. He knew he would normally overheat wearing something such as this at night, but he had wanted to gauge what Dirk had been wearing first. Never having stayed over at someone’s house before, he had not been sure as to the general custom for nightwear. 

He slid down into the covers beside Dirk, and tried to get himself comfortable. This was yet another thing that would take getting the hang of.

“G’night Jake,” Dirk said turning off his bedside light.

“Good night, old chum,” as he was plunged into darkness for his first night away from home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok I'm never doing a pesterlog again. That was slightly horrific OTL Made a special colour thing for the alpha kids hehe but took me forever to get it working -__-  
> Oh and approximately 80% of Roxy's typos were genuine - yes, I am just that bad at typing.
> 
> Managed to get these two chapters out in reasonably quick succession due to chapter 1 being pretty short and me writing the majority of them on my stupidly over-long train journey to Cardiff OTL


	3. Chapter 3

The strong daylight filtering through the curtains awoke Jake. He blinked, gazing around the room with sleepy eyes. Realising he was in unfamiliar surroundings, he suddenly felt very awake. He had been well trained in quickly preparing for unknown situations, thanks to the frequency at which Brobot snuck up on him; especially after he had been given an upgrade and Jake was still unsure of his new attack strategies.

It only took a moment for him to remember that he was only in Dirk’s bedroom and no robots would jump out at him here. At least he hoped not. He chuckled to himself, feeling a little silly at how he had reacted to something so simple as a change of environment.

He stretched himself out, scratching at the bird’s nest that had once been his hair and reached across to the bedside table to pull his glasses on. As he picked them up, he dislodged a piece of paper which had been sitting neatly underneath them and it fluttered to the floor.

Jake reached over the end of the bed, not quite wanting to get out of the covers yet and reached for the paper, fingers scraping it a couple of times before he finally grabbed it. The neat orange lettering was addressed to him: 

Jake,  
Seeing as you are far too lazy to get up, and apparently sleep more heavily than a brick which has somehow managed to consume a large quantity of sedatives . . .

Jake huffed – it wasn’t his fault that he had been on a ridiculously long flight over here and was tired.

. . . I have already left for school. There’s food in the fridge, but if you can’t find something you want, just pester Bro about it. Try a couple of times – he’ll have to acknowledge you eventually.

Have a good first day in the real world, don’t go out looking for monsters and if you know what’s good for you, you won’t even think about touching my swords.

Dirk

Jake folded the note and placed it back onto the bedside table. He sat there, kneeling with the covers still pulled around him. He wasn’t entirely sure how he had managed to not just kick the covers off during the night – Dirk had definitely been right about the fact that he was going to be too hot.

Deciding his first course of action for the day would be to get in the shower, he grabbed his towel from his bag which was now shoved in the corner of the room and headed out towards the bathroom (this time ensuring he had the correct door).

Jake had never really been one for long showers; he would always much rather be spending his time heading straight out into the wilderness or chatting to his friends online. As a result he only showered out of necessity and those he did take were rather on the quick side of things.

After barely five minutes he left the shower, quickly drying himself off and rubbing the towel through his hair. At which point it suddenly occurred to him, that he was no longer alone on his island and therefore had company – it would probably have been a good idea of him to have brought his clothes through to the bathroom to change into there.

He had bought with him only a small-ish travel towel, but it managed to just about wrap around his waist as long as he held it in place. If he was quick, hopefully he could make it back to Dirk’s room and quickly get some clothes on in there.

Jake opened the door, immediately finding Dave standing facing directly towards the bathroom, leaning casually against the wall. Maybe he had just been waiting to use the bathroom; but something in the way he was looking at Jake told him otherwise. And there was another bathroom in perfect use that he could have gone to if necessary. Jake stood there for a moment, ears going slightly red prompted by Dave’s unwavering gaze. 

“Sorry for keeping you waiting, old chap,” he said, avoiding eye-contact and heading in the direction of Dirk’s room.

“You’re more . . . toned than I hop- thought you might be. At least that tan doesn’t reach past your t-shirt line.” Jake stopped walking, turning back slightly at the words the older Strider brother murmured.

“Pardon, Mr. Strider?” Jake really was bewildered now and feeling more than a little self-conscious.

“Just thought you might be needing these,” he held up a small pile of clothing before suddenly chucking them at Jake. 

Jake reached out to catch them, momentarily relinquishing his grip on his towel causing it to slip just a fraction. Luckily his quick reflexes had him clutching onto both the towel and his clothes before he lost too much dignity.

Jake started once again towards Dirk’s room.

“You’re welcome!” Dave called from behind him, and Jake could practically hear the smirk in his voice as he closed the door to Dirk’s bedroom behind him. 

He pulled on the clothes that Dave had taken to him, and realised that he must have had to go through Jake’s bag to get them. Jake was unsure about whether this was a violation of his personal privacy, or if this was just the normal behaviour of someone being genuinely helpful. He wished that he had more experience of being around other people to pull on to help with situations such as this.

After he was dressed, he ran his hands through his hair a couple of times, although this hardly made a difference to it. It amused him to think of how much effort Dirk obviously put into his own hair and how Jake was just not bothered by something like that.

Jake’s stomach rumbled, alerting him to the fact that he had not had anything to eat yet today. It was little late now, but he still felt like having breakfast so headed off toward the kitchen.

Deciding to familiarise himself with the kitchen, he started pulling open random cupboards and drawers, examining their contents; he pulled out a bowl and spoon as he came across them. He opened one cupboard to find a ridiculous number of boxes of cereal. Was it entirely necessary to have so many? Jake just pulled out the first one he saw, eliminating the problem of having far too many choices.

He poured himself out a bowl of the Rice Crispies, which were his apparent choice and sat down at the small, round table in the corner of the room. Just as he sat down, he realised he had also wanted a glass of juice and so stood back up cursing himself. Knowing he had seen the cups somewhere, but not quite remembering where he started pulling the cupboards open again.

He heard an annoyed noise coming from behind him and turned around to see Dave walking into the room. He headed straight over to where Jake had left the milk and box of cereal out on the side and he returned them to their places, closing the cupboard door Jake had also failed to shut. 

“Oh, sorry,” Jake apologised. “I guess I sometimes forget my manners, not being used to living with other people.” If Dave hadn’t have been wearing his shades, Jake might have thought he had been rolling his eyes at him.

He turned back to his quest to find the glasses, and finally came across the right cupboard. Unfortunately, it happened to be one of the higher up ones and although Jake wasn’t exactly the smallest fellow, both Striders had height to their advantage and clearly had no trouble reaching cups from the back of a high-up cupboard.

However Jake found that he could not speak the same for himself, even after going up onto his tiptoes. But he was Jake English, and Jake English would not be defeated by something so trivial. He stretched up again, his t-shirt lifting slightly and he felt a hand on his now exposed waist.

“Need a hand there?” Dave questioned, coming up close behind Jake. Uncomfortably close.

“Err . . . no need to worry, I’ve almost got it,” Jake stretched up again, trying to grab a cup quickly so he could just get back to eating his breakfast.

But once again, he failed to reach that pesky glass which was sitting right at the back of the cupboard. He felt Dave lean up around him, fingers brushing his own as he easily reached the cup. He moved away from Jake as quickly as he had got there, handing him the cup and leaving the room with a small smile on his face.

Jake finally poured himself some apple juice and slumped into a chair. He spooned through his cereal – which was now on the verge of going mushy – feeling more than a little uncomfortable.


	4. Chapter 4

The time Dirk spent at school, seemed to span forever to Jake; more so than when he was home alone and waiting for his friends to appear online. After what was a far longer wait than he had been anticipating, Dirk arrived home and much to Jake’s excitement he informed him we was able to come to school with him, albeit only for the last day of term.

The dinner of Chinese takeaway, although being something that was far too common an occurrence in Dirk’s life with regards to the nutritional value, was somewhat of a luxury to Jake – so much so he kept reminding Dirk every few minutes of the lack of takeaway restaurants within sensible distance of his home. After they had eaten, the boys withdrew to Dirk’s room.

Dirk sat down at his desk, computer in front of him, while Jake lay on his stomach on the bed behind him, feet kicked up in the air. He could just about read the bubblegum-pink writing on the screen from his position, but mostly relied on Dirk to read out Roxy’s parts in their threeway conversation and type out the messages Jake dictated to him. Although he was pretty sure that Dirk was wording them in an altogether more Dirk-ish manner than he would have been happy with; plus the lack of green text took away from his general typing style. 

“I think I’m going to go and get ready for bed now, old chum,” Jake said as he stifled a yawn. Dirk typed out a ‘BRB’ message for him as he left the room with his toothbrush and a pile of clothes.

TT: Jake requests me to inform you, he has gone to brush his teeth.  
TG: ohh finally!!!! i thort he was never gonna leave  
TG: now we can discuss some rmoe importnant matters ;)  
TG: have u told him yet???  
TT: Are you actually being serious? He’s been here a matter of less than two days and you’re already expecting me to have made a move?  
TT: I’ve finally got him here to stay with me, I don’t want to ruin everything between us and have him leave already.  
TT: Maybe I just want to enjoy having his company here for a while.  
TG: yes but  
TG: think about how much better it will be havin him ther  
TG: if you have more 2 enjoy than jst frendship  
TG: wonk  
TT: You cannot guarantee things will work out that way, Roxy. That boy is harder to read than a double-padlocked book written in Gallifreyan.  
TT: And then you still don’t know whether some of the things he says and does are due to him genuinely reciprocating my feelings, or if he doesn’t always understand normal social conventions.  
TG: but diiiiiiiiiiiiirk you never know til u try  
TG: how would you fell for him to go back to tht stinking island never knowing how you feel  
TG: or what if you lfeet it until the last minuet to tell him and  
TG: and  
TG: aaaaaaaaaaaaand  
TG: he DOES like you back  
TG: then like youll get no time togethe as a couple  
TG: nd then you really will have missed uot  
TT: Yes, I know all that. I _am_ going to tell him, I just need to wait until the time is right.  
TG: and when exaxtly will tht be?  
TT: Wow Roxy, someone’s eager for me to get this done quickly. In case you hadn’t noticed, this technically doesn’t concern you.  
TG: well u mde this concern me with the amoutn of time i have to liste n to you pining over his and i qutoe  
TG: hot manly jungle-toned body  
TG: the one perfectly tanned from years under the sun  
TG: and those gorgeous green eyes  
TG: like perfect emeralds glinting in the pacific sun  
TG: seriously dirk  
TG: you are ttly lovesick for jim  
TG: not jim  
TG: jake  
TT: I would never have said anything like that Roxy, stop exaggerating the situation.  
TG: im sure if you look back thru our past pesterlogs you will have said stuff a whole lot sappier  
TG: just admit your in luuuuuuuuuuuuuurve  
TG: wonk wonk wonk  
TT: Will you stop with the ‘wonk’ing. It was never amusing, and never will be.  
TG: ooh someones getting defensive now  
TG: mybe if youd just hurry up and get this off your chest youll stop being so tetchy  
TT: Fine. Yes. I _will_ tell him.  
TT: Just let me give him a few days to allow him to settle in. So I can finally enjoy having my best bro around.  
TG: is that a primrose  
TG: *promise  
TT: Yes.  
TG: pinky swear  
TT: Yes.  
TG: ill have 2 take ur word for it  
TG: i will be holdin you to that you know  
TT: Yes, yes, whatever.  
TT: Now would you be so kind as to change the conversation so that this is not showing on my pesterchum window when he returns.  
TG: yessir

Jake got changed out of his clothes, into a fresh pair of boxers and a t-shirt. He was not going to put up with the heat again tonight, and so taking Dirk’s advice seemed a pretty good idea. He quickly brushed his teeth, and then headed back out to make his way back to Dirk’s room.

Noticing Dave was walking in the opposite direction to him down the hallway, he stepped to the left to move out of his way. Unfortunately it seemed Dave had the same idea and stepped in the same direction, blocking Jake’s path. 

Jake stumbled out an apology and stepped to the right, only for Dave to do the same once again. Dave laughed. 

“If you really wanted to stop me here Jake, you know you could try better than this awkward corridor-tango.”

“Oh no, I didn’t meant to get in your way,” Jake said as they both once again stepped in the same direction. Jake hadn’t realised this was actually a thing that happened outside of cheesy films and suddenly his scorn for those characters felt inappropriate. Why did it seem to be natural instinct to always walk in the way of other people? Jake thought he would never understand.

Dave let out an exasperated sound, but smiled subtly. “Boy, you really do want to keep me here, don’t you? Here, just stop,” he placed both his hands onto Jake’s hips and turned them both ninety degrees. They were both still facing each other, and although Dave’s hold was only light and Jake could have easily walked on, something kept him there. 

Dave took a step forward, pushing Jake ever so lightly against the wall and Jake panicked as the taller man moved in closer towards him. He felt lips brush slightly against his jawline, as Dave moved in towards his neck and then stopped. 

“Dave?” Jake questioned, as he felt Dave draw in a breath. Was he smelling him?! “Erm . . . you’re making me feel rather uncomfortable right now . . .” 

Jake’s voice dragged Dave back into reality. “Almost too . . . earthy. And yet I still seem to get really bad déjà vu whenever I see you. I hope ya’ll have some explanation for this, kid, ‘cause I sure as hell don’t,” he patted Jake on the hip and the turned them both the rest of the way before turning and carrying on along the corridor. 

Jake returned to Dirk’s room, plonking himself down back down in his position on the bed, already dictating his message of return for Dirk to send to Roxy. Meanwhile, a certain Strider who had caught a glimpse of his best bro returning to his room, was uncharacteristically smiling to himself over Jake’s choice to ditch those ridiculous pyjamas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the huge gap in between this chapter and the last. Many other things had taken over my life OTL.  
> Yeah and sorry for the pesterlog :S I'm so bad at writing them, but couldn't think how else to get the conversation across, so I'll just try and not do them in future :P.  
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
